Captives of the Thieve-Star

When salvage operators Channok and Peer grapple the drifting Ra-Twelve, they see profit: a derelict ship full of abandoned tech, ripe for the taking. What they find instead is the missing Crown Jewels of Irrek, and the beginning of a nightmare that will test their partnership to breaking point. Because the Ra-Twelve is not as empty as it seems. The Yomm haunt its corridors, and the Mysterious Nine are already hunting. Now the chase is on across the black: two small-timers versus ancient alien forces, racing to stay alive with stolen treasure that was never theirs. Schmitz writes with the relentless pace of a heist gone wrong, layering mystery and danger until the walls close in. This is 1950s pulp SF at its leanest: no elaborate worldbuilding, just a tight survival story about what happens when ordinary people grab something too big for their hands.